The 8 Best Laptops to Buy in 2017 for Under $500

7It wasn’t long ago that the “under $500” batch of laptops were thought to cheaply made, with poor battery lives and underpowered processors. But in 2017, this couldn’t be further from the truth, and the current crop of fully loaded affordable laptops can make you wonder why you would even need to pay an arm and a leg for the latest gadget.

Over the past three years in particular, many people are now recognizing that the processing power on offer in modern budget laptops far exceeds their daily requirements. All of the laptops on our list can be used to browse the Internet, play high-definition movies and edit office documents without skipping a beat. For many consumers, this is more than enough.

From the sleek Asus VivoBook F555LA-AB31 to the Asus Transformer Book T300CHI that will double as a tablet, here are the best laptops under $500.Find the best 2-in-1, design, portable laptop and more